Chapter 3

"The Elven military industrial complex is a relatively ridiculous organism. Unlike the human military industrial complex, which exists to make the best for its individual governing body, the Elven military industrial complex exists to maintain the status quo. Dedicated attacks are made so rarely that the modern Elven armed forces aren't good for much more than rank and file. In fact, any military analyst with more than six seconds in the field knows that an invasion from another layer could easily overrun the Elven forces. Despite all that, strict traditionalist rules still apply. Men who court men are strictly forbidden from enlisting at all. Women are allowed to enlist, but the positions offered to them are no better than busywork jobs. A few motivated individuals have gone out of their way to fight this outdated viewpoint, but not to any tremendous effect. Most Elves wonder why it's a problem at all, given the lax state of all Elven military forces."

-- Gongsun Yue, A Dissertation on Alvish Society

"What do you mean, there aren't any positions for me in the 'wings?"

"Madam, there are plenty of positions that you can apply for that aren't active combat. Intel, public relations, fletching..."

Li'litea's fist smashed against the tabletop of the recruiter's station before her mind even registered the fury that it signified. The hapless recruiter, a man of only a year's experience in the armed services of Xi Liang, was certainly not to blame for the wall of troubles she faced. It wasn't his doing in the least that a woman of her social standing, vast personal talent, and previous military service was forbidden by law to enlist in an active combat position. No, it was not his fault, but he was going to suffer her wrath anyway. With the official delegation out of her way and her fated Eschel Alessandra safely nestled away in one of the dozens of miniature towns around Xi Liang, Li'litea had no reason to hold anything back.

"I don't want to make arrows or lie to people," her words, meant as bitter acid, came out as wine and roses. "I want the sky. I have years of combat experience from the human world, in much more dangerous circumstances than what we have here."

"I understand all of that madam, but the law is the law." The recruiter looked as if he might be perfectly ready to soil himself. This quality ran roughshod over Li'litea's nerves, in a way, as it made her entirely too aware that her family name preceded her and, while certainly concerning this poor bastard over the safety of his job, that it would do absolutely nothing to aid in her attaining enlistment. Irritatedly he sat in the chair across from him, a light sigh parting her lips.

"The law is idiotic. Who do I talk to if I want to change it?"

"Um," the officer pretended to rifle through some papers on the table. "Politicians make the law, madam. I suppose you could talk your way up the chain of command, but I can't imagine that you'll make any progress. Things have been the way they are for a long time..."

"... which is a perfect reason to change them, don't you think?" The interruption even seemed crass to Li'litea herself, but somehow justified at the same time. The officer managed a somewhat intimidated smile. Li'litea blinked. She couldn't tell he if he was agreeing with her or just looking at the bit of cleavage she'd allowed to show on this particular errand. She smiled a captivating smile. "Listen, do you need to see some credentials? I keep them between my breasts."

"Wha?" What little color had been in the cheeks of that particular elf man drained away in an instant. "Uh, ma'am, I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I'm sorry, please forgive me..."

Li'litea grinned. "It happens, don't worry about it. Now, tell me who to talk to next, and I'll be on my way." She holds out her hand for a handshake. "And try not to gawk at my ass when I leave."

Chapter 4

"A casual observer might note that Elvenkind is somewhat unfortunate in that Elves really only have two major races: those commonly called Elves, and those commonly called Drow. Originally they were referred to as Light and Dark Elves, respectively, but the distinction was somewhat unfitting as there are just as many evil Light Elves as Dark, and of course there are good Drow.

"What the casual observer doesn't see is that having races as many and varied as humans would have led Elvenkind to an absolute societal halt. A critical, historical eye will find that Elves are spectacular in their ineptitude when it comes to change. Especially where the advancement of females in career positions was concerned, Elven males were traditionally unwilling to share their positions of power while Elven females rarely displayed the conviction necessary to see those changes through. It was a rare female who would challenge the existing social structure, and more often than not those rare females were simply bogged down in a governing system designed to do nothing at all... a job at which it displayed nigh-insurmountable proficiency. Once in a while, though, someone with the right talents, the right voice, and the right sense of charisma comes along to turn everything on its ear."

--Gongsun Yue, A Dissertation on Alvish Society

The next several days in a row brought nothing more than irritation to a swiftly enraging Li'litea. She was directed from post to post to academy to office to base, and every stop she made only earned a dozen polite excuses. It seemed that no argument held enough weight for the military brass, and Li'litea quickly learned that she could make an absolute fool of anyone who stood upon the other side of the argument, in private. The difficulty came in getting other people to witness the schooling of her 'superiors'.

"I just don't understand it, mother. How can our society hold to laws that humans have shaken off as pointless?" As she lay unhappily upon her family settee one crisp evening, lamenting the blindness of the Elven brass, Li'litea felt somehow cheated. "I'm afraid that I can't get anything done without support. If I could get even one of them into an open forum, I could convince everyone that I'm right." Reiline, who had been busying herself with drafting a speech for some sort of convention, let her features relax and soften to think.

"You could talk to Alen'frea the Snubbed. I'm sure that she would sympathize with your cause, and she certainly has enough power to call a forum together." Her voice lay flat, though, as if she hoped that her daughter wouldn't be paying attention.

Li'litea sat up, looking deeply into her mother's lying eyes. "Mother... please don't be unhappy with me," plead the still-dutiful daughter, "this is what I want for my life. It's what will make me happy with myself, mother."

"Darling, I want you to happy. I just wish you didn't have to make such a martyr of yourself to do it." Li'litea blinked at the words tumbling from between her mother's painted lips.

"What do you mean, a martyr?" she softly asked. Reiline's eyes softened further, into that same expression that she had worn so often during Li'litea's childhood troubles. No boo-boo too nasty, she fondly recalled.

Reiline shifted uncomfortably in her cushioned seat. "Well, look at Alen'frea herself. There's a stigma around her, anytime she goes before a crowd or any kind of council. She's gained a reputation as a naysayer, a trouble maker that no one wants to associate with."
"Just because she wouldn't let them push her around?" Li'litea felt a sense of indignation rising in her chest, one that she made a point to beat down in a hurry. She knew better than to let herself grow angry over traditionalist nonsense that no amount of growling could change. "Well, I'll show everyone. I'm going to go talk to her."

Reiline sighs. "I'm sorry, my daughter. I'll send someone to let her know you're coming..."

"Li'litea, she doesn't want you to go. Is it really so important for you to break her heart?"

Li'litea lay back on the couch, scratching her platinum hair for a moment. Alessandra's quiet voice had not yet registered in her mind as something she ought to be hearing, especially since her Eschel had turned out to be so soft-spoken.

"I'm doing this for me, you know. I can't do something that I'm going to hate for the rest of my life. I can't give up the sky," she thought in return, hoping that such would suffice for the reply while fearing that there was some crucial communication device she'd neglected to learn. "Mother, thank you. I promise, everything is going to be just fine, and I'll make things even better for your granddaughters." Reiline smiled her warm smile, taking some of the edge off her daughter's tension as only she could.

"Cui Yong is a respectable walk from here," she mused aloud as she stood, "I'll... get you a rucksack. You'll need food to take with you, so... I'll just pack you some things."

When Reiline left, her warm smile was tarnished by cold, milk-white tears. Somehow, as her mother walked her graceful walk into the next room, Li'litea felt like the worst person in the world.

* * *

Though Li'litea had spent most of her young life being groomed for a spot in the prefecture, or perhaps even a central council seat, she had always displayed a disheartening lack of enthusiasm for leaving Xi Liang. Her peers had often teased her about being mommy's little girl, but the truth was a little bit less socially crippling than that. The truth was that she felt secure within the high oaks and cool grasses of her homeland, as if nothing bad could ever happen to her. In the last several centuries of vast ecological change Xi Liang had emerged as the only deciduous forest prefecture on the continent, and with flatlands, tundra, and deserts taking over the majority of the landscape the young Elf found herself with fewer and fewer places to find that security. Still... with the onset of adulthood, even Li'litea knew that she must cast off the mantle of mommy's girl and live for herself, no matter where fate took her.

Cui Yong turned out to be a vastly different beast than Li'litea's home district of Xi Liang. The unforgiving cold of the evergreen woods bit at Li’litea’s spring-softened skin like the grains of a sandstorm, the thinner air made breathing a chore, and the dominant scent of pine brought a tickle to her nose that resulted in a sneeze about every ten steps. The entire prefecture, she was told, had been designed within the lay of those endless evergreens and so she would not be likely to find any respite from them.

“Oh, joy for naturism. It is times like this when I wish logging occurred on this layer,” was one of many gripes she made to herself along the way. She could hear little Alessandra giggling when she made remarks like that, and that tinkling laugh made the journey easier. Li’litea didn’t feel quite so alone in those days.

“Well, here we are, Alessandra. Cui Yong Palace. This is where we’re going, I believe.” Li’litea reported this as though it needed to be said, when in truth Alessandra probably knew where the elf was before the elf did. “Which way?”

“According to the letter Alen’frea sent back to your mum, it’s about a hundred yards in front of the gates where you’re standing now. But honestly, it doesn’t look much like a palace does it?”

Li’litea shrugged involuntarily. “No,” she answered the Eschel’s question while gazing upon the wooden fortress that was Cui Yong Palace, “it looks more like a treehouse cut into the side of a mountain’s armpit.”

Alessandra giggled again, and her host just smiled.

At the designated spot Li’litea ran to catch up with a waiting Alen’frea, whose garb seemed much more appropriate in this place than it had back in the council house. Here the Snubbed wore a full coat and hood instead of a slightly risqué shoulder-less dress. Her expressive face held a warm glow at the sight of Li’litea, and her hand extended in greeting.

“Welcome to my city, Li’litea. I received Reiline’s letter the other day, and I cleared my schedule for you.” She smiled a cool smile, one that Li’litea wished she could understand better. “So, let’s find a pub and get sloshed, shall we?”

Li’litea grinned, giving a slight nod.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”